Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Peraza Rumor
Sep 2, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins relief pitcher Carter Capps (22) throws during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Carter Capps, Jordan Walden, and Legal Deliveries
Yesterday, the Marlins called up Carter Capps from the minors, and Capps went on to make his season debut in last night’s game against the Braves. He pitched well, getting all three batters he faced out, one of them by strikeout. But a reliever getting called up and throwing a scoreless inning isn’t worthy of a post, so you know there has to be more to the story. And there is, because here’s what Carter Capps throwing the ball looks like.
… video clips at the link above, which we saw in-game last night …
Jordan Walden has been doing this for years, but Capps looks to be taking the jump-towards-home-plate delivery to an entirely new level. He had a reduced version of this delivery when he got to the majors with Seattle, so this isn’t entirely new, but the jump-step he showed last night goes beyond what he did in his previous big league stints.
… But is this really legal? PCL umpires didn’t think so, when his first two pitches in an appearance last week were ruled automatic balls for “disengaging the rubber”. But if you look at the MLB rules, there’s nothing actually in there that says your back foot has to remain on the rubber when delivering a pitch to the plate.
… much more from Cameron on fangraphs.com
[ Ed. note: I’m not sure that the rule book intended for pitchers to hitch their way forward and finally release the ball 50 feet from home plate, either. That motion probably has the effect of adding close to 5 mph to his fastball just based on the shortened reaction time. ]